Worthing Beer Festival 2024 was filled with rich flavours and it took me back to McDonald’s of old, when root beer was on tap

Rooms in the Guildbourne Centre, Worthing, was packed as soon as the festival opened on Friday morning and hundreds of people were welcomed over the three sessions.

Colin Pennifold, one of the organisers, said: "It went well. We had around 760 people over the two days. By late Saturday, we had sold out around 50 per cent of the casks and there was not a great deal left in the rest."

There was a good range of beer, with different styles and strengths to choose from. Prices were good, with tokens being sold in sheets worth £10 and any left overs going to the festival charity, Care For Veterans.

In a bid to keep costs down, there were no dedicated 2024 beer glasses this year but there were plenty of other glasses available, including the 2023 festival range, all marked for thirds, halves and pints.

As a fan of dark beer, I targeted most of my choices in that direction but also got to try a few bitters and a couple of fruity sours - my second favourite style of beer.

Worthing's Hand Brew Co, the festival sponsor, had one of the best beers I tasted. Kora, an old ale, was described as 'perfect for the colder months and cosy pints by a roaring fire'. It promised rich flavours of sticky treacle, sweet dates and chewy raisins, and didn't disappoint.

Another favourite of mine was Elusive's Carve'n Yams, a sweet coffee porter with pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices. I loved its spicy tones.

Hammerton's City of Cake really was like cake. A deep rich milk stout, this had coffee and chocolate notes, which I really enjoyed.

Switching to something a bit more 'out there', I tucked into Amundsen's Uncle Pop's Soda Series – Root Beer Float Pastry Sour. This had a pastry tart aroma and really reminded you of root beer, making it a bit medicinal! I took me right back to McDonald's in the old days, when root beer was on tap as a soft drink choice.

Basqueland Brewing x Fuerst Wiacek's Sucker Punch was also rather different. Described as a lush fruit hamper, it had tastes of mango, apricot and raspberry. Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea but I loved it.

Double Barrelled's Stroop was said to be rich, indulgent and full of sweet caramel and biscuit notes. I found it rich but I'm not sure I could taste anything specific at first. It was too cold, perhaps, as once I had waited for it to warm up, it was tastier.

Tartarus' Lenghelo smelled divine. It was rich and flavoursome, a cappuccino porter that would go perfectly with a roaring fire

Fyne Ales' Crun was a weird one. The volunteer servers were insisting people tried it before buying it because people had been taking it back saying it was off. It's a sour dark beer, up front tart. It just didn't taste like a dark beer and that's what was confusing people.

I finished off on Sunken Knave's Boffle, brewed in Worthing by festival organiser Henry Kirk. It was described as a barley wine, not something I would usually go fort, but I felt I just had to give this local brew a try. It was made at Hand Brew Co in February and aged for eight months.

Henry said he wanted to bring back the classic English styles but brewed to the level of Belgian beer. He really was strong, perhaps a bit strong for me, but I welcome the local attempts to bring something different to the market.